An Unexpected Event
by Flashes09
Summary: Max collapses after a meeting with White, and later learns some surprising news… MA. Set after Freak Nation
1. Chapter 1

Title: An Unexpected Event 

Author: Flashes09

Rating: T (PG-13)

Summary: Max collapses after a meeting with White, and later learns some surprising news… MA. (Set after 'Freak Nation")

A/N: Okay, this is my first Dark Angel fic, so if I make any big mistakes, feel free to tell me. All reviews are welcome, constructive criticism is appreciated, and flames are highly frowned upon.

A/N 2: If you like Logan/Max pairings, you may be disappointed , but I know there are plenty of L/Ms out there, so go read them!

-- --

**Chapter 1**

_Terminal City_

Ames White walked into the large bare room alone to find X5-452 and X5-494, also known as Max Guevera and Alec McDowell, watching his every move with hard eyes. Both stood, ready for a fight if their meeting came to blows. White had been brought here blind-folded, forced to leave his squad of soldiers outside. He had been given a shot of something, and he figured it was a type of poison, but when he demanded to know what it was, a female X5 had told him it would keep the chemicals of Terminal City from killing him. Surprised, he had allowed himself to be led to this room.

"Well? You dragged me in here, now what do you want?" It was Max that answered this.

"Remember, you wanted to talk to us as well. So here's what were are offering you. We want supplies, and for you to leave us alone. In return, we'll give you Eyes Only." This had been Logan's idea, and when Max first heard, she had burst out in a speech about how she wouldn't give up Logan and blah, blah, blah. But then Logan had explained that he had moved, so it was alright to give up his old address.

"Who says I want Eyes Only?" This time, Alec spoke.

"Come off it. You've been dying to get Eyes Only from the start, even more once he revealed Manticore."

"I have more important things to take care of now. Why should we give you supplies? The sooner you run out, the sooner you either come out of this shit-hole or you die. Either way, it solves my problem." White noticed that Max wasn't looking too hot. She had deep bags under her eyes, and was swaying slightly. "Doesn't look like your getting a lot of sleep there, 452. Perhaps you should just give up now." Max shot him a look that was so intimidating, that White's next comment died on his lips. But, even more surprising, was when the stare was wiped from Max's face as she collapsed.

She didn't hit the floor, thanks to Alec's quick reflexes, but even if White could have escaped, he didn't even try. He was stunned. Having been around X5's he knew they did not simply collapse from little food or sleep. It would take days, and by that time, they would look like walking skeletons.

"Get him out of here!" Alec yelled to some unknown person. The blindfold slipped into place over White's eyes and he was led away.

-- --

_Med Bay_

Alec couldn't believe it. Max had collapsed. Max, I'm-gonna-kick-your-ass, Max. Max, the leader of Terminal City. He picked her up and made his way to the Med Bay. Luckily, Gem was there to meet them.

"Alec? What's wrong?" Alec set Max down on a bed, and rattled off the story of the meeting.

"I'm not sure if White did something. I'm fairly sure he didn't, but you never know."

"Okay, well, I'll run some tests, see if it's not just fatigue or something." Alec nodded and went off in search of Biggs.

An hour later, Biggs returned with Logan and Original Cindy in tow, then left. Asha had come with Logan, and was refusing to leave his side. Alec picked up on this, but he didn't process it. Worry for Max had overtaken most of his senses. He resumed his pacing as he once again recounted the meeting with White. At that time, Joshua and Mole showed up. They had been in the control room during the meeting, but had to escort White back to his troops.

"Max okay?" Joshua asked.

"We hope so." Gem walked through the door of Max's room, a look of utter disbelief pinned on her face. Alec was up in a flash.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Gem took a deep breath, seemingly unable to think of how to begin.

"Well, Max is going to be just fine." A collective breath was let out by everyone in the room. "And…she's pregnant."

Six different mouths dropped open. Shock was evident on all of their faces. Alec finally recovered somewhat.

"Gem, please tell me you're joking." She shook her head, then gave him a hard look. Turning his head, Alec noticed everyone else looking at him as well. "What? Why are you all looking at me?" Realization dawned on him. "Oh…no. Max and I would never…come on guys."

"Aren't you two together now?" Logan's mood had changed from shock to rage. "God, Alec. What did you do, hop in bed with her the second my back was turned?"

Alec felt his anger rising, but he managed to squash it. "Come on, people. Do you really think Max and I…jeez, last time I tried that I got a swift kick in the stomach. Even if she could refrain from mutilating me, she's not stupid, and neither am I. Plus, I'm not the one she loves." Alec said, shooting Logan with a meaningful look.

"She dumped me for you." Logan retaliated. "She doesn't love me anymore."

"Raise your hand if you think that's true." Not a single hand moved. Original Cindy spoke up.

"Listen, does it really matter who the kid's father is? S'long as it's someone we know, I doubt my boo is gonna care. She'll just curse herself for being so stupid. Now, if you two are through with your pissin' match, I'm gonna go see Max." She walked to the door, pulled it open, and closed it behind her.

Alec was fine with letting it go, but Logan wasn't as willing. Throwing Alec a disgusted look, he turned and left, a stunned Asha hot on his heels. Alec moved toward the door and went in, followed by Joshua.

-- --

_Med Bay, Max's room_

Max was sitting up in bed, looking very pale. Original Cindy came in and sat on the side of the bed.

"I guess you heard." Original Cindy nodded. "God how could I have been so stupid."

"You aren't stupid, you and your man just made a mistake." Max just looked down at the covers on the bed.  
"Boo, you do know who the father is, right?" Max shook her head.

"I figure I must have jumped some guy during heat. I had another cycle about three weeks ago. The math works out." Max started to cry, the tears leaving tracks down her face. Original Cindy put her arms around Max.

"Thanks." Original Cindy was perplexed.

"For what, boo?"

"Being here when I needed you to be." Original Cindy just smiled. "I'm not the only one." She motioned to the door as Alec and Joshua walked through. Alec smiled gently down at her.

"How ya doin', Maxie?"

"You know I hate that name."

"Why do you think I use it?" Max smiled for the first time that day.

"I'm guessing the meeting didn't go so well."

"Hey, we were able to prove that Ames White can be surprised. You should have seen the look on his face when you fell. It was priceless." Max turned to Joshua.

"Hey little fella."

"Hey big fella, did you take White back outside?"

"Yeah, he was no trouble." Max looked around, then frowned.

"Did anyone tell Logan?" Alec and Original Cindy exchanged uneasy glances. "What? What's with the looks?"

"Uh, boo, Logan was here, but he thinks Alec here is the daddy, so he took off."

"Alec? The father? He's joking right?"

"Hey, that hurts. I stand up for your honor and you insult me. I'm crushed." Alec said mockingly, putting a hand to his heart. But Max didn't smile. In fact, she looked hurt that Logan had left without at least talking to her. Alec sighed and sat down on the side of the bed. "Listen, Max, he was here, but we got into a little argument, so it's really my fault."

"No, it's not, Alec. Fine, if Logan wants to be immature, then forget him. This kid isn't his anyway." Alec's eyebrows shot up.

"He's not?"

"No, of course not. I can't even touch him without killing him, how am I supposed to procreate?"

"Well, that's one visual I didn't need, Maxie, but thanks for giving it to me anyway. But, if Logan's not the father…who is?" Max shrugged.

"I don't know. I was in heat a few weeks ago, and the math times out, so I must have jumped someone."

"Was that when you locked yourself in your room for like a week?" Max nodded. "Oh, yeah, I could smell your pheromones down the hall. I had to move my residence for a week."

"Well, I'm glad you could keep yourself to yourself. I guess I just wasn't careful enough though." She looked down at her stomach and laid her hand on it. " I just wish I knew who the father is. He deserves to know, even if he doesn't want to help raise this kid." Max heaved a deep sigh. Alec moved forward and put his arms around her, with Original Cindy and Joshua following suit.

-- --

There were still like that when Gem walked in.

"Oh, sorry guys, but I wanted to talk to Max." Max nodded and Gem came forward with a few pill bottles in hand. "These are vitamins. You need one of each everyday. It'll keep you from collapsing again. I'll run a few more tests and make sure everything is running smoothly. We'll have to get a few things, as the Med Bay isn't equipped for pregnancy."

"I'll make some calls to Dr. Carr, see if he can't help."

"Good." She turned to Original Cindy, Alec, and Joshua. "She's going to need help through this, and I have a feeling it's gong to be mainly you guys."

"Well, I'm up for it." Alec stated. Joshua nodded in agreement.

"Uncle." Max smiled.

"You know I'm gonna be here for you, boo." Max smiled and got off the bed. This was certainly going to be interesting.

-- --

So, what did you guys think? I'm not sure exactly where this one's going, but we'll see. And for those of you who watch the reruns on Sci Fi, they're having a 15-episode marathon on Labor Day (9/4) it goes from like 8 A.M. to 11 P.M.

Anyway, review! All reviews are welcome and appreciated!


	2. Chapter 2

**Title:** An Unexpected Event

**Author:** Flashes09

**A/N:** The second installment of the saga continues! Well, sort of, anyway, reviews are welcome! 'Cause you know you wanna press that button. Oh, and Logan lovers, be warned: I am a Max/Alec Shipper all the way, and this chapter will contain some rather unhappy Logan scenes.

**A/N 2:** I am so sorry that this has taken so long to get up. The computer in my room that I type all of my stories on is currently without the internet, so I have to save it to a disk and put it on another computer. Anyway, I hope you like this!

* * *

**Chapter 2**

_Max's Room, One week later_

_Flush._ "Uh, this pregnancy thing sucks. Why would any woman want to do this to herself?"

"Well, boo, unlike you, some women don't have a whole bunch of transgenics to look after, and they actually want to have children."

"Then they're all crazy!"

"Knock-knock, anyone home?" Alec walked in, a bag in one hand and a mug of fresh orange juice in the other. He took one look at the bathroom door and sighed. "Let me guess, morning sickness again?"

"Yep, my boo got it bad." Original Cindy opened the bag. "What's this?"

"That would be an omelet, courtesy of the lovely ladies that cook for us." Original Cindy raised an eyebrow.

"You really think Max, who's puking her guts up in the bathroom, is gonna want to eat?"

"Are you kidding? She's an X5, we're known for our appetites." The subject in question, Max, came out of the bathroom, one hand on her stomach.

"Morning, Maxie, how's your day been so far?" Her reply was to give him a punch in the shoulder. "Easy, I come bearing gifts of food and drink for the expecting mother." Max had a sarcastic reply ready, but dropped it when she caught a whiff of whatever was in the bag. Yanking it out of Alec's hand, she sat down at her table and quickly polished it off.

"Ha! Told you. Now, Max, Mole wants us to go over some plans about the heist tonight-" But before Alec could finish his sentence, there was a knock on the door. Alec walked over and opened it to reveal Logan. Logan gave him a glare.

"Where's Max?" Alec opened the door wider and let Logan in. Brushing past Alec, he came in and stood in front of Max. "Listen, Max, about a few days ago-" But Max put up her hand.

"I know, Logan. You thought Alec was the father and got angry, I get it. But seriously, what does it matter to you? You can't even touch me without getting sick and dying."

"Max, I want to help. I don't care who the father is." He was obviously willing to overlook if Alec was the father to keep Max.

"What if I told you I don't know who the father is?" Logan was speechless. Alec could not help but smile as Logan became more and more uncomfortable.

"You, uh, you don't know who the father is? Uh, how can you not know?"

"Well, I did go through heat a few weeks ago…"

"WHAT! Are you kidding me! I could live with the fact that this guy," He jerked his thumb toward Alec, "Was the father, but now you're telling me you don't even know who the father is! Jesus, Max!"

"Alright, Logan, chill." Alec grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the door. Max was on the verge of tears, he could tell, and Logan was just making a bigger ass of himself than he already was.

"Get off of me, Pretty Boy! Max, just listen to me-" Alec had had enough of this. He physically lifted Logan off his feet and threw him out the door.

"Don't come around again, Logan." Then shut the door in his face. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Max's jaw clench, partly from anger, partly from unshed tears. Walking over to her, he put his arm around her shoulders.

"Max, Logan's an ass, and we all know it. Don't let him get to you like that."

"But he's right. I don't even know who this kid's father is."

"Actually, I met Gem in the hallway a few minutes ago. She wants us to come by later this afternoon. She's got news on something, but she wouldn't tell me what." Max perked up at this news. Turning to Original Cindy, it suddenly dawned on her, that OC had been her for a while.

"Oh, my God, isn't Normal gonna can you if your late?"

"Maybe, but it doesn't matter now, I'm here for ya."

"Thanks, OC, but don't worry about me, I'm fine. Plus I have Alec, whether I need to cry on his shoulder, or punch it." Alec's hand went to his shoulder.

"Yeah, have fun with that. Oh, I forgot to tell you, Normal's willin' to give you and Golden Boy here your jobs back, if you want them."

"Ha, that would require us to get out of here first without getting maimed or killed. Of course, come a few months, Maxie here is going to be a little too far gone to ride a bike. Oh, hang on a sec," Alex reached into his coat pocket and produced a slightly dog-eared book entitled "What to Expect When You're Expecting." "For the expecting mother."

"You can't be serious."

"Hey, you try going into a bookstore's section about pregnancy. You wouldn't believe how many weird looks I got."

"You're a guy Alec; of course they gave you weird looks." Max said. Alec merely shrugged. "Okay guys, I'm gonna take a shower, then we can go visit Gem."

"That's cool, I guess I should go. Dix told me there're all these chemicals seepin' into my body, and that I had to leave for a few hours, or get sick." Max hugged OC again and stood up, making her way to the bathroom.

"Oh, Alec, thanks for breakfast."

"No problem, Maxie, no problem at all."

* * *

Max emerged from the bathroom twenty minutes later, feeling refreshed. Alec, who had been reading the book he brought, put it down hastily. 

"A little light reading?" Max joked. Alec grinned.

"Hey, there's a lot of useful info in there. Like how long you're going to be puking up your guts." Alec said. Max, who had been about to toss the book on one of her shelves, instead tucked it under her arm.

"So, I don't think I can wait any longer, let's go see Gem." Max grabbed Alec's hand and pulled him out the door and all the way to the Med Bay.

* * *

"So, Max, have you been feeling light-headed? Really tired? Nauseous?" Gem asked, while taking Max's blood pressure. 

"No, no, and yes." She replied.

"Don't worry, it should go away after the first trimester. Now, let's take a look, shall we? Thanks to Dr. Carr, we are now the fabulous owners of a new ultrasound machine." Gem wheeled the machine over, turned it on, then put some gel on Max's stomach.

"Hey, that's cold." Max was nervous, but over the years she had become the master of hiding how she really felt. Yet somehow Alec knew she was nervous, and he gave her hand a squeeze.

"There we go." Gem pointed to an area on the screen that was slightly darker than the rest. Max tilted her head a little bit, but she still couldn't see anything.

"Um, maybe it's just me, but I don't really see anything." Alec said. He honestly couldn't tell if that was a baby or not.

"You are only about a six weeks along, so the baby hasn't fully developed. But there's the head." Gem pointed again.

"How did you learn all of this stuff?" Max asked.

"Well, since I was one of the first to get pregnant at Manticore, they weren't really ready for us to have kids yet. So they sent us to an OB/GYN outside of the compound. The woman that was my doctor was very nice, and she went over this stuff with me. Of course, it wasn't as comfortable with my 'husband' over my shoulder. Luckily, one time the agent they sent wasn't very competent, so I took him out and left. That was about the time Manticore was going up in flames. I ran into Dalton as I was looking for a place to stay. Anyway, that's how I learned all of this."

"Wow." Max looked up at Alec. "Thanks for not forcing me." Alec smiled gently.

"No problem. Of course, the swift kick you sent to my stomach had a little to do with my decision." Alec said, putting a hand to his stomach briefly.

"Well, I guess you guys would like to know why I actually asked you to come." Gem said. Both Max and Alec nodded, their attention now solely on Gem. " Here, let's go talk in my office."

* * *

Gem's office was crowded with various charts and lots of papers. There were two rather rickety looking chairs in front of a decrepit desk. 

"Have a seat, don't worry, the chairs will hold up." She sifted through some papers, looking at them, them tossing them into different piles. Finally, she held up a manila folder. "So, after Max excited us with the news that she wasn't sure who the father was, I decided to do the paternity test. So I did. I also took a little of Alec's DNA, so that I could prove that he wasn't the father. I also figured I could use his DNA as a base when I tried to figure out who the father really is." She paused for a long time.

"Well?" Alec finally asked. Both he and Max were on the edges of their seats. Gem heaved a sigh.

"I honestly can't tell you who the father is. But my best guess is, it's Alec."

* * *

Yes, I'm going to leave you with that. But let me just say that the next time I update, I'll explain it a little better. Because, let m tell you, there is a major plot twist that is about to be revealed! Mwahahahaha!!! So, until next time: Review! Review! Review! 


	3. Chapter 3

**Title:** An Unexpected Event

**Author:** Flashes09

**Rating:** T

**Disclaimer:** I do not own "Dark Angel". It is owned by Fox, James Cameron, and all other relevant parties.

**A/N:** So, I know it has been a long time (a very long time- more than a year) since I have updated this story, and I'm truly sorry about that, but I am going to rectify this mistake- I have finished this story. So, from now until the end, every Tuesday I will post a new chapter. Happy readings!

* * *

**Previously in "An Unexpected Event":**

_White noticed that Max wasn't looking too hot. She had deep bags under her eyes, and was swaying slightly. "Doesn't look like your getting a lot of sleep there, 452. Perhaps you should just give up now." Max shot him a look that was so intimidating, that White's next comment died on his lips. But, even more surprising, was when the stare was wiped from Max's face as she collapsed…_

_"Well, Max is going to be just fine." A collective breath was let out by everyone in the room. "And…she's pregnant."…_

_"Aren't you two together now?" Logan's mood had changed from shock to rage. "God, Alec. What did you do, hop in bed with her the second my back was turned?"…_

_She looked down at her stomach and laid her hand on it. "I just wish I knew who the father is. He deserves to know, even if he doesn't want to help raise this kid." Max heaved a deep sigh. Alec moved forward and put his arms around her, with Original Cindy and Joshua following suit._

_Gem turned to Original Cindy, Alec, and Joshua. "She's going to need help through this, and I have a feeling its gong to be mainly you guys."_

_"WHAT! Are you kidding me! I could live with the fact that this guy," Logan jerked his thumb toward Alec, "Was the father, but now you're telling me you don't even know who the father is! Jesus, Max!"_

_"I honestly can't tell you who the father is. But my best guess is, it's Alec."_

* * *

**Chapter 3**

Absolute silence followed Gem's reveal. Both the transgenics sitting across from Gem were struck dumb, capable only of staring. Finally, Alec spoke.

"Please, tell me you're kidding." Gem just shook her head.

"I'm pretty sure. I mean, I don't have the best equipment, but it's decent enough." Gem said.

"Max, you okay?" Alec asked, she had yet to say anything, and Alec was beginning to worry.

"But…how?" She asked softly, her brown eyes going, not to Gem, but to Alec.

"I don't know, Maxie." Max's face grew hard.

"Don't call me that." She snapped. She stood and left.

Alec got up to leave, but Gem called his name and Alec turned back.

"Give her a little time, Alec." He nodded, but didn't say anything. He still couldn't believe that _he_ was the father. That he was the father of _Max's_ baby. "And Alec, if you can find a way to get samples to an outside testing facility, it'll tell us exactly."

"I'll see what I can do." Alec said, and then left the Med Bay, still racking his brain for how he could be the father.

As he made his way down the hall, he thought back to all the times he and Max had ever come into contact. Thanks to his photographic memory, he could remember them all perfectly, from the first time they met and she'd kicked him in the stomach, to the look on her face as she'd stormed out of the Med Bay.

Alec stopped and punched the nearest wall. What the _hell_? How could he be the father? He and Max were never _that_ close, not physically, and there was no way in hell she would ever let _that_ happen.

Of course, she did go through heat a while ago. _Maybe her pheromones affected me to the point where I blacked out, _Alec thought. _Yeah, and she would have been in no condition to refuse, not during her heat._

Of course, there was another question. Did he _want_ to be a father?

At night, sometimes, he thought about having a family. Not just unit mates and friends, although he wouldn't trade Max and Josh and the others for the world. But sometimes he wondered what it would be like to have a wife and kids. He knew it couldn't happen now, when the whole world seemed to be gunning for the transgenics, but maybe in the future…

Although it seemed the future was here now. Max was apparently carrying his child. Max, who he would do anything for, whose back he always had. Max, who he maybe loved, just a little...

Did he want to be a father? Yes.

Did he want to be the father of Max's baby? Hell yes.

_I have to go talk to her_, he thought, and took off running to where he knew she would be.

* * *

Max made her way to the tallest building in Terminal City and perched on its roof. It wasn't anywhere near as tall as the Space Needle, but it would do for now.

She still wasn't sure what to think.

According to Gem, Alec was the father. But according to Alec, and her own photographic memory, she had never done anything with Alec. And now she was starting to feel bad about storming out of the Med Bay like she did. But she needed to _think._

_Well, here you are Max, so think! _But that was easier said than done. In the past, it had been fairly easy to ignore problems until they went away. However, that wasn't going to happen this time. _Well, I got my wish, I know who the father is. _

But, _how_? The question was still plaguing her. It would be nice to write it off as something that had happened during her heat, but she knew better. As soon as she had figured out what was going on, she moved to a different building, locked herself in the second level of the basement behind a heavy steel door and posted Joshua as a guard. By the time her heat was over, the door had a few dents in it, but it was still securely locked and Joshua had said no one had come by.

_Maybe Manticore did something to me._ But again, that didn't make any sense. Her second breakout from Manticore had been over a year ago, so if they had planted an embryo in her, she'd already have her baby. But she also had no idea what Manticore did while they'd had her knocked out. After all, they had put a deadly, DNA-specific virus in her, who knows what else they did?

And the bigger question was, what was she going to do now? She realized now how foolishly this went down in her head. In her head, the father was a mysterious, faceless stranger, and when Max told him of their kid, he left, leaving her to care for their kid by herself.

But now the father had a face, and there was no way he would be leaving. Max had gotten to know Alec over the past year pretty well, and despite his devil-may-care, look-out-for-number-one attitude, he wasn't a deserter. The fact that he was still in Terminal City was a testament to that. He was really a stand-up guy when you thought about it. Just look at the number of times he'd been punched, kicked, or shot helping her. Hell, he had brought her _breakfast_ this morning!

And, truth be told, she was glad he would be helping out. She was getting tired of doing everything by herself. He was her second in command in Terminal City (She told Logan that it had to be Alec, because the rest of the transgenics didn't respect a human, even one who had helped, like Logan, but secretly, she knew Alec would be better than Logan would. After all, he had been trained as a leader.), then there was the fact that he was willing to go along with whatever crazy scheme she came up with. He would help her steal anything she needed, and he knew all the best fences. Max was depending on Alec more and more.

That was it. She needed to go talk to Alec. She stood up and turned around only to find herself face to face with Alec.

"Hey, Maxie." She hated it when he used that name on her. That's what Ben had called her. She used to be reminded of her dead brother every time she saw Alec, although she was seeing more Alec and less Ben whenever she looked at him. But Max couldn't summon the anger to be mad at Alec for his use of the nickname. After all, he didn't know. So, she responded with her own "hey."

Alec, for his part, winced inside the second "Hey, Maxie" slipped from his lips. He knew she hated that nickname, but he never knew why. But he was surprised to see that Max didn't get mad, instead all she said was "Hey."

"Max, I-"

"Wait, Alec, just let me say something." She took a deep breath while Alec waited patiently. "Look, I know we fight a lot, and that I yell at you a lot, but…this isn't your fault. I thought I would be okay with not knowing who the father is, but I realize now that I'm not. I guess…well, what I really wanted to say is that… I'm glad it's you." Alec raised an eyebrow at this part. He couldn't help it. "No, what I mean is…well, I trust you. I haven't said that to anyone in a while." Alec couldn't believe it, Max trusted him. "It's just…I know you are going to stick around. I thought I could do this on my own, but now I realize I can't…and maybe I don't want to. So I'm glad you're going to be here." Alec smiled. Then he opened his mouth to talk, but Max cut him off before he could begin. "And for the record, I really don't care how I got pregnant, and I don't blame you for it. Well, I mean it is technically your fault, but I don't really _blame_ you."

Alec nodded. "That's…well, that's awesome, Max. I'm glad you know I've always got your back. Always." He continued. If Max was going to share all, then he would too. "Max…I want to be here for you and for this kid. And I'm going to be. I'm not going to leave you." Max couldn't help but get a warm feeling in her stomach. And no, it wasn't morning sickness.

"And I don't care how it happened either." He said. "Although, I do have an idea." Max's mind did a 180 at his words.

"What?" She asked, surprised. Surely, he couldn't remember something she couldn't. Unless…

"Was it my heat?" She asked, although she remembered him saying he'd had nothing to do with her heat. She had thought he was telling the truth, after all, she had gotten good at picking out his lies, but maybe she had gotten it wrong.

"That's my theory." He said.

"Tell me this theory." A sly little smile crept over Alec's face and his voice turned teasing.

"Now, Maxie, you know curiosity killed the cat." Max had no qualms with telling Alec where she was going to stick his dead cat if he didn't explain his theory immediately.

Alec, who decided he liked all parts of his anatomy intact, also decided it was best to put forth his theory.

"Well, you know how you give off pheromones when you go through heat?" Max nodded. "Well, I think yours have some kind of special…I don't know… mojo, or something, that attracted me too you, but caused us to black out and forget."

Max was silent for a minute before asking, her voice filled with sarcasm, "My pheromones have special mojo?" Alec nodded. "Are you kidding me?" Alec shook his head. "Alright then, why mine?"

"Why do you have little black runes that come out randomly on your skin?" Alec countered.

"Okay, how come you were the only male affected?" She asked.

"Maybe I was just the best." Alec said with a way too cocky smile. Max glared at him until he offered a better explanation. "Well, we were breeding partners, based on genetic compatibility, maybe we are affected by each other more than we think. Maybe that's why I was so affected by your pheromones." Max was nodding through the whole thing. It made since really, a whole lot of sense, but there was still one problem…

"Alec, I was in a windowless room with a locked steel door a whole block away from your place with Joshua standing guard. By the end of my heat, the door was still intact. And even if we don't remember anything, Joshua would." Alec opened his mouth to offer another possibility, but when he failed to come up with one, he shut his mouth again. Finally, he sighed.

"I don't know, Max. I'm all out of ideas."

"If we want to solve this puzzle," she said, "I think we're going to need some outside help."

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Well, I hope you liked it, and there will be more next week. Review!


	4. Chapter 4

Title: An Unexpected Event

Author: Flashes09

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I do not own "Dark Angel".

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**Chapter 4**

_Seattle Planned Parenthood_

"This is your idea of outside help?" Alec hissed through clenched teeth as he and Max took refuge once again in a small closet.

"Shut up!" Max hissed back, her eyes watching alertly through the crack in the door. Alec sighed, but did indeed shut his mouth. He was too tired to argue. It had been a very long day.

He had woken up to a loud pounding on his door as Max yelled at him to get his lazy ass up or she would break down the door. Since he preferred his door intact, he complied, letting in the excited transgenic.

"I think I found us some of that outside help." She slapped a brochure down on Alec's rickety table. The title was hard to miss "Planned Parenthood" in large block letters. Beneath it in smaller lettering was "Think of the Future".

"Uh, Max, it's a little late to be planning, isn't it? I mean, you're already pregnant." Max rolled her eyes.

"I have on good intel that Manticore used doctors from the outside to help with the breeding program. One of them works here. And I think we should pay him a little visit."

Alec had been a little hesitant to leave the safety of Terminal City. Not only did most of society want Transgenics dead, White and his cronies were still out there.

"Max, I think I can tackle this one on my own." He definitely did not want her leaving Terminal City.

"No way, Alec. You need someone to watch your back. And now is so not the time to get over-protective of me." In the end, Max had her way and the two transgenics left Terminal City by way of the ever-helpful sewers.

Unfortunately, the Planned Parenthood was not in the same sector, so once Max and Alec were out of Terminal City, they had needed to get through Sector police. Something finally went right though. Max and Alec still had their Jam Pony IDs, so it was easy to get through.

Once they had gotten to this clinic, they were going to go with the cover of being a couple that was going to have a baby.

Max had felt a little awkward sitting in the waiting room. There were a couple of younger girls in the room. One looked like she was barely fifteen. The others were a little older, seventeen, eighteen, but they all were alone. In fact, the only male there was Alec.

One of the girls in the room caught her eye. She was probably the oldest, twenty or so, with short blond hair and blue eyes. One hand rested protectively on her large stomach and the other held her purse. While the rest of the girls were slouched in their chairs, the blond was sitting upright and was alert. Max nudged Alec.

"What? I'm awake; I was only resting my eyes." Alec said.

Max leaned over to him and whispered in a voice so low only a transgenic could hear. "I think the blond girl is a transgenic." Sure enough, the girl's head turned towards them. Max smiled reassuringly and made a quick sign for 'friend'. The girl gave a very subtle nod.

"Honey, I could use a little air, I'll be right back." Max said to Alec sweetly.

"Go right ahead, sugar, I'll be waiting for you." Max got up, gritting her teeth at the stupid names, but glad that Alec had played along. Before too long, the blond had joined her. They walked nonchalantly into a nearby alley before talking.

"My name's Max, what's yours?"

"Sandra. You're an X5, right?" She asked.

"Yeah, me and my 'husband' in there." Sandra raised an eyebrow. "It's a long story. Do you have somewhere you're staying?"

"Yeah, but I'm trying to get to Terminal City. It's too dangerous out here, especially when you're pregnant. Some normal guy tried to rob me the other day. It didn't take much to knock him out, but I couldn't help but think what could have happened if it had been some hunting transgenics." Max nodded.

"I'm going to give TC a call and have them send out someone to get you. Is this a result of the Breeding Program?" The blond nodded. "Did he…?" Max wasn't quite sure she could get the words out.

"No, it was an agreement. We both knew what would happen if we didn't." Max nodded, relieved. The two went back inside, where Max had Alec call TC and get somebody to pick up Sandra.

It was a three person team of Gem and two others, one of whom Sandra seemed to know. Max and Alec bid her goodbye and went back to waiting.

_Wow_, Max thought, _she had to go through this alone. I'm glad Alec's around_.

Finally, a nurse saw them. She took Max's pulse and blood pressure and puttered around a bit, then declared Max fine and sent them on their way. This wasn't what Max and Alec wanted. But they went on their way, walked once around the block, then slipped back into the building through a hole in the security.

They had meant to just stroll into the doctor's office, but Sector Police had come along, looking for suspicious activity. Thus, they ended up in a tiny storage closet, bitching at each other and waiting for the coast to clear.

"Okay," Max said. "We're good." The two left the closet and made their way through the offices. Outside of one marked 'Chris Donovan', they stopped and knocked. A muffled "come in" floated through the door and the transgenics let themselves in.

Another surprise waited for them. Max had expected the doctor to be a man. But apparently, "Chris Donovan" was female.

"Can I help you?" The doctor asked, politely puzzled.

"You ever hear of something called 'Manticore'?" Max asked, taking the offensive.

"No…" The doctor said, looking even more puzzled.

"Whatever." Max said. "I know they consulted you for their breeding program. Are you _sure _you don't remember? No consulting on DNA on the side?" The doctor looked a little afraid.

"Well, about a year ago, I was called in to see which strands of DNA were compatible. But, they weren't real strands of DNA. They couldn't have been. It was a mixture of all sorts of animal DNA."

"Did any of them look like this?" Max pulled a paper out of her pocket and laid it on the doctor's desk. The doctor looked at the paper, then up at Max.

"This is your DNA isn't it?" She asked quietly. "You're a transgenic." Max nodded. "My God, I didn't think they could do it. Even before the Pulse the science for this wasn't far enough along."

"Guess it was for the government." Alec said.

"Please," Max said, "What can you tell me?" The doctor bit her lip, looking at the DNA workup. Then she set her mouth in a thin line.

"Okay." She got out of her chair and walked to a file cabinet. She motioned to Alec to follow. She got down on her knees and pulled open the bottom drawer. "Help me pull this out." She and Alec grabbed the drawer and pulled it all the way it out. It was heavy, even for Alec.

As soon as the drawer was out, the doctor reached into the area the drawer had just vacated and felt around. She pulled up a piece of the floorboard and pulled it out, then reached under the floor and pulled put a stack of files.

"I kept records. I always do. I had just had my own child, and so I put the files on a disk and slid it in some of her diapers. It was illegal, but I just had this bad feeling." She stopped and looked at the transgenics. "I guess it was well-founded." She flipped through the files. "The thing about your DNA…" She struggled to find a name.

"Max." The doctor nodded thanks

"The thing I remember about your DNA, Max, is that it lacks any junk DNA." Finally, she stopped about halfway through the pile. "Here we go. I paired you with another strand that had almost no junk DNA. Here we go." She handed Max a sheet of paper. Max read it with Alec looking over her shoulder.

"Uhh, Max…" Alec trailed off. "That's my DNA." Max shrugged, she figured as much. After all, they had been paired during the Breeding Program.

"So, you were to one that paired us together?" Max asked.

"Yes, but I didn't know that you were actual people. I swear, if I had, I would have declined." Alec shook his head.

"You don't turn down Manticore." Max gave the paper back to the doctor.

"What does this mean? Let's say these two sets of DNA get paired, what's the kid going to be like?" Max asked. This was her kid and she wanted to know.

"Well, from what I've read and heard about transgenics, he or she will inherit the strength, the speed, the enhanced vision, much like you. As for looks, it's a toss up until you see which genes are dominant and which are recessive. However, there is some good news. There was a deficiency of serotonin that will have been fixed." Max breathed a sigh of relief.

"Doc, is there any thing else you can tell us about the program?" Alec asked.

The doctor shook her head. "Sorry, I was only in the early stages." Alec nodded. "But I do have a name." She scribbled a name on a small slip of paper and handed it over. "Here." She went back to the file cabinet and rummaged under the floorboard again. When she pulled back there was a disk in her hand. "I think this will be of more use to you than me." Alec took the disk.

"Thank you for everything." Max said.

"I wish I could do more. I can't help but feel responsible." The doctor said.

"You didn't know." Alec reassured her. "And even if you did, no one turns down Manticore." Alec offered Max his hand and they stood up. They nodded once to the doctor and left.

She watched them go and couldn't help but wish them well. This was another sign that the government owned the media. These transgenics were perfectly nice. She couldn't even begin to imagine what it must have been like growing up in a place like Manticore.

The doctor replaced the files under the floor and slid the drawer back in. She gathered up her things and left the office, locking the door behind.

* * *

Max and Alec made their way back to Terminal City, taking the sewers all the way instead of tangling with Sector Security.

"Max," Alec started. "Now what are we going to do? We're no closer to figuring out what happened. We just reinforced what we already knew."

"Which was?" Max inquired.

"That you and I can have a great kid, Maxie!" Max elbowed Alec in the stomach, but there was no real force in it. After all, he did have a good point…

What were they going to do now?

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Sorry for the wait!


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